When most people think of AI getting out of control, they almost always point to Terminator or HAL. In ‘Transcendance,’ Johnny Depp, plays Dr. Will Caster, whose work in AI creates PINN, (physically independent neural network), the core of which is used to create a transcendent Caster after he dies of radioactive poisoning from a terrorist group.

Alex Garland’s first feature film as a director, Ex Machina, had its US debut at SxSW on March 14. This stylish idea film explores the Turing Test in a very Pinteresque fashion as a young coder falls in love with an advanced AI. Ex Machina is beautifully framed, but Garland’s stark script succeeds on the strength of the acting from Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac.